NSA whistle-blower’s girlfriend feels ‘adrift’

Mills (Inside Edition via Daily Mail)

Lindsay Mills, the woman reported to be the girlfriend of purported National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden, says she feels adrift without her 29-year-old boyfriend, whom she says abandoned her in Hawaii and fled to Hong Kong.

"My world has opened and closed all at once. Leaving me lost at sea without a compass," Mills, a 28-year-old professional pole dancer,wrote on her blog, "L's Journey," on Monday. The blog post was written a day after Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA and ex-employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, was identified by the Guardian on Sunday as the source of its stories revealing the NSA's controversial telephone and Internet surveillance programs.

"As I type this on my tear-streaked keyboard I’m reflecting on all the faces that have graced my path," Mills continued. "The ones I laughed with. The ones I’ve held. The one I’ve grown to love the most. And the ones I never got to bid adieu. But sometimes life doesn’t afford proper goodbyes."

According to the Daily Mail, Mills and Snowden had been together since at least 2009.

"Surely there will be villainous pirates, distracting mermaids, and tides of change in this new open water chapter of my journey," Mills—who refers to Snowden as "E" and herself as a "world-traveling, pole-dancing super hero"—added. "But at the moment all I can feel is alone."

Snowden, who was interviewed by the U.K. newspaper in his hotel room in Hong Kong where he was hiding at the time, said he has no regrets about going public—even if he never sees his family again.

"I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things," Snowden said. "I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under. ... I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."

Snowden said he decided to leave his family, girlfriend and a six-figure-a-year salary behind, and flew to Hong Kong on May 20.

On June 3, Mills wrote:

The past few weeks have been a cluster jumble of fun, disaster, and adventure. From pop-up homes to last-minute unplanned adventure to stressful moments that would give Gandhi indigestion. While I have been patiently asking the universe for a livelier schedule, I’m not sure I meant for it to dump half a year’s worth of experience in my lap in two weeks time. We’re talking biblical stuff — floods, deceit, loss. Somehow I’ve only managed a few tears amongst all of the madness of May. Waking up to June with hopes for a better swing of luck, only to find that I’ve lost my camera’s memory card that stored 90% of my trip’s memories. I feel alone, lost, overwhelmed, and desperate for a reprieve from the bipolar nature of my current situation. My coping response of the past was to [flee] to foreign lands. Trying to outrun my misfortune. But before I can sail away to lands unknown I need to wipe my misguided tears and reflect on all that is happening. Listen to my core. Find zen or something like it. And breathe into what little patience I have left.

The newspaper said it revealed Snowden's identity at his request. Booz Allen said it fired Snowden on Monday for "violations of the firm’s code of ethics."

"All my options are bad," Snowden told the Guardian. "I could be rendered by the CIA. I could have people come after me. Or any of the third-party partners.

"My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them," he added. "The only thing I can do is sit here and hope the Hong Kong government does not deport me. ... My predisposition is to seek asylum in a country with shared values. The nation that most encompasses this is Iceland. They stood up for people over Internet freedom. I have no idea what my future is going to be."

A petition urging the Obama administration to pardon Snowden was posted to the White House website on Sunday afternoon.

"Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs," the petition read.

Thanks to a bill recently passed by the New York Senate, attracting a cop’s attention could soon earn you way more than some unwanted questioning.

The bill, S.2402, was sponsored by Senator Joe Griffo (R – 47th District) and seeks to make it a felony to annoy a police officer. No joke. Here’s the official language:

A PERSON IS GUILTY OF AGGRAVATED HARASSMENT OF A POLICE OFFICER OR PEACE OFFICER WHEN, WITH THE INTENT TO HARASS, ANNOY, THREATEN OR ALARM A PERSON WHOM HE OR SHE KNOWS OR REASONABLY SHOULD KNOW TO BE A POLICE OFFICER OR PEACE OFFICER ENGAGED IN THE COURSE OF PERFORMING HIS OR HER OFFICIAL DUTIES, HE OR SHE STRIKES, SHOVES, KICKS OR OTHERWISE SUBJECTS SUCH PERSON TO PHYSICAL CONTACT.

In a world where there was never reason to bring grievances against an out-of-line government, the above rule might make sense, but that’s not the world in which we live.

During the height of the Occupy protests in New York City nearly two years ago, an international audience got a firsthand look at what the New York Police Department thinks about people who speak out against the status quo. “New York’s Finest” were responsible for beatings, theft and destruction of property, the wrongful arrest of hundreds and multiple violations of human and civil rights.

Rather than acknowledging the culture of violence and intolerance that permeates its law enforcement, the state of New York wants to make it even easier for an office to infringe upon our Constitutional right to peaceful protest.

When talking and petition signing fail to get the attention of our “representatives,” it is within the rights of every American to take direct action. There being no value in violent action, Occupy protesters and others have utilized creative protest ideas like sit-ins, reading books in front of police barricades, photographing/video taping police raids, hugging and giving flowers to officers–all of which could be considered “annoying” but are certainly not crimes. Yet.

What has been proposed by Sen. Griffo is yet another legislative attack on our right to voice criticism against the powers that be. In early 2012, Congress quietly passed what many called “the Anti-Occupy Law“. This Act makes it a federal crime to “willfully and knowingly” enter a restricted space. It also makes it illegal to protest anywhere the Secret Service “is or will be temporarily visiting,” or anywhere they might be guarding someone. Even if you didn’t know, because, well, it was a secret. President Obama signed the legislation into law without batting an eye.

Even the right to photograph or video tape the actions of a uniformed police officer on duty in the middle of the street was recently challenge. Though the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that action as legal, who’s to say that New York law enforcement won’t find it “annoying” and haul you off to jail anyway?

Then there’s the long-suffering issue of racial profiling. NYC’s controverisal “stop and frisk” policy already gives officers a green light to harass those who seem “suspicious.” As RT reports, “Recent testimony by several New York police officers in connection to a lawsuit allege that the department regularly targets young black men and other minorities, which are judged by an arbitrary notion of ‘reasonable suspicion.’”

The article goes on to state that, statistically, stop and frisk procedures reveal that white people are more likely to be carrying a weapon, but that doesn’t stop the NYPD. Stop and frisk used to mean an unwarranted shake down, but now, just the wrong look could “annoy” or “threaten” and officer, and thanks to this new law, the suspect could go to jail even if no drugs or weapons are found.

Griffo and his supporters in law enforcement claim that consequences “are way too low” for those would would impede a police officer’s duty, even if there’s no physical harm, and that current laws send “the wrong message to the public.”

What message does harassment, beating, arresting and trampling on the rights of otherwise peaceful Americans send?

Read more: civil rights, human rights, new york, NYPD, occupy, occupy wall street, ows

Image via Thinkstock

• by Earth Island Journal
• June 9, 2013
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When a ship breaks in two, runs aground, or sinks to the bottom of the ocean, it doesn’t just carry lives and dreams with it. It also carries a nasty payload of items like oil, coal, fuel and chemicals, depending on what it was carrying, and these are released into the ocean as the ship’s hull integrity is compromised, especially if it’s left to rust away in the ocean. That’s bad news for the world’s oceans, warns the World Wildlife Federation, which follows ship traffic and wrecks as part of its overall conservation work, and has noted a disturbing uptick in the number of wrecks.

The problem doesn’t just lie with more ships wrecking, but with where these incidents occur. Of the top ten shipwreck hotspots around the world, almost all are also in ecologically sensitive areas where the natural environment is both fragile and unique. Some are World Heritage Sites, set aside by conservation organizations for the enjoyment of future generations, while others provide valuable forms of revenue to their communities; diverse fisheries, for example, or coral reefs that become popular tourist attractions.

The WWF is concerned that the number of shipwrecks is likely to grow in coming years as more ships are scheduled for production and launch, and ships will be traveling a wider variety of waters, which will inevitably lead to more wrecks. Some are also traveling in newly economically productive, dangerous regions where they’re more likely to experience navigational troubles, and some of these same regions are, again, ecologically fragile and not able to sustain repeated environmental insults.

Not only that, but climate change is fingered as a possible culprit in making the problem worse. Many climate change models indicate that in addition to increases in sea levels, the globe is likely to experience more storm surges and severe storms. These are ideal conditions for foundering, even with well-built ships intended to survive harsh conditions on some of the world’s most hostile oceans. As tankers get bigger and the seas get more angry, it could be a recipe for catastrophe — particularly since staff numbers are actually in a decline as a result of automation, making it more challenging for captains and other personnel to make the best decisions for their ships and crew.

Especially since the options available for dealing with shipwrecks and related problems are so limited. For example, if oil leaks under ice, no current cleanup methods can deal with the problem, which raises the very real risk of a tanker going down and spilling millions of barrels of oil that have to be left in the ocean to devastate fish populations and work their way through the marine food chain. Likewise, in regions where dangerous rocks and reefs tend to catch ships, salvage and retrieval missions are equally dangerous, making it extremely difficult to contain, control and remove shipwrecks.

Conservation advocates are pushing for tighter regulations on worldwide shipping, particularly a crackdown on the flags of convenience used by a number of shipping companies to slide by inspections, regulatory requirements and other safety means. Concerns that many of the ships on the ocean today may be unsafe and ill-equipped for dealing with both changing seas and tough environments are valid in the face of the rising number of shipwrecks. This push for reform is intended not just to benefit the environment, of course, but also the people who work on the front lines of the shipping industry; every sailor should be confident that a ship will make the journey there and back safely.

With so many goods criss-crossing the globe by ship every year, it’s more critical now than ever to make sure shipping is as safe as possible, and that the environment is protected from the poisons of industry.

Read more: conservation, marine life, oceans, shipwrecks

Photo credit: ThinkStock

Pope confirms 'gay lobby' at work at Vatican

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis lamented that a "gay lobby" was at work at the Vatican in private remarks to the leadership of a key Latin American church group — a stunning acknowledgment that appears to confirm earlier reports about corruption and dysfunction in the Holy See.

The Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious — the regional organization for priests and nuns of religious orders — confirmed Tuesday that its leaders had written a synthesis of Francis' remarks after their June 6 audience. The group, known by its Spanish acronym CLAR, said it was greatly distressed that the document had been published and apologized to the pope.

In the document, Francis is quoted as saying that while there were many holy people in the Vatican, there was also corruption: "The 'gay lobby' is mentioned, and it is true, it is there ... We need to see what we can do ..." the synthesis reads.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Tuesday the audience was private and that as a result he had nothing to say.

In the days leading up to Pope Benedict XVI's Feb. 28 resignation, Italian media were rife with reports of a "gay lobby" influencing papal decision-making and Vatican policy through blackmail, and suggestions that the scandal had led in part to Benedict's decision to resign.

The unsourced reports, in the Rome daily La Repubblica and the news magazine Panorama, said details of the scandal were laid out in the secret dossier prepared for Benedict by three trusted cardinals who investigated the leaks of papal documents last year. Benedict left the dossier for Francis.

At the time, the Vatican denounced the reporting as defamatory, "unverified, unverifiable or completely false."

Francis' remarks on the matter, as reported by the CLAR leadership, were published Tuesday in Spanish on the progressive Chilean-based website "Reflection and Liberation" and picked up and translated by the blog Rorate Caeli, which is read in Vatican circles.

In the synthesis, Francis was quoted as being remarkably forthcoming about his administrative shortcomings, saying he was relying on the group of eight cardinals he appointed to lead a reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.

The document quoted him as saying: "I am very disorganized, I have never been good at this. But the cardinals of the commission will move it forward."

In its statement, CLAR said no recording had been made of Francis' remarks but that the members of its leadership team — a half-dozen men and women — together wrote a synthesis of the points he had made for their own personal use.

"It's clear that based on this one cannot attribute with certainty to the Holy Father singular expressions in the text, but just the general sense," the statement said.

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Text of the CLAR synthesis is at http://www.reflexionyliberacion.cl/articulo/2729/papa-francisco-dialoga-como-un-hermano-mas-con-la-clar.html

Text of the CLAR apology is at http://www.clar.org/clar/index.php?module=Contenido&func=viewpub&tid=2&pid=659

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